Charlie Schlenker
Senior ReporterWGLT Senior Reporter Charlie Schlenker grew up in Rock Island, Illinois, and graduated from Augustana College. He has spent more than four decades in radio and has won numerous state and national awards for journalism. He lives in Normal with his family.
Contact Charlie at ceschle@ilstu.edu.
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A noon hour warehouse fire on Saturday forced the closure of the Center Street bridge in downtown Bloomington for a couple of hours. Firefighters said they contained the flames to the cupola of an elevator shaft. -
The decade-old Underpass project in Uptown Normal has had another hitch. The contractor, Millstone-Weber, said it can't meet the requirements and construction timeline and has pulled out. -
La ciudad de Bloomington se está adentrando en lo que promete ser un tema espinoso: las reglas sobre los letreros y anuncios. -
The City of Bloomington is stepping into what promises to be a thorny issue: rules about signs. City Manager Jeff Jurgens said the city hasn't revised the sign code since the 1970s.
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On October 28, 1934, the airport that would become Central Illinois Regional Airport was dedicated. A crowd estimated at 60,000 came to see the airshow and speech from the governor. -
A woman is suing the state of Illinois and the Illinois Department of Corrections, alleging the state prison system forced her to give birth before she was due. Amy Hicks was in custody at the Logan Correctional Center in Lincoln in early 2024, held on a drug conviction. Over her objections, she was taken to a hospital and labor was induced two weeks before her due date. -
The City of Bloomington doesn't know what's happening to up to 3 million gallons of water per day — and it could be more during the summer. An aging treatment and distribution system is a root cause. -
State Farm is announcing the largest dividend in company history, a $5 billion giveback to auto policyholders. CEO Jon Farney told reporters the dividend works out to an average of $100 per vehicle for 49 million vehicles. -
A vendor for the City of Bloomington suffered a ransomware cyberattack early this month. That criminal action disrupted about 1,500 credit and debit card payments to the city. -
ISU President Aondover Tarhule on Friday took a practical stance as litigation continues over a lot of federal mandates. "Our first and most important responsibility is to our students,” said Tarhule.
